Turkish director Haci Orman ’s film boycotted in Istanbul, but to be screened at Golden Apricot Film Festival in Yerevan

‘Homo Politicus’, a short film by Turkish director Haci Orman, will be screened out of competition at Golden Apricot 12th International Film Festival being held in Yerevan.

The film depicts the events during the Armenian Genocide committed in the Ottoman Empire in 1915. It tells the story of German Protestant missionary Johannes Lepsius who attempted to draw the attention of the international community to Armenian massacres in Western Armenia. J. Lepsius wrote the book “Bericht über die Lage des armenischen Volkes in der Türkei”, in which he condemned the Armenian Genocide.

Speaking at a press conference in Yerevan, Haci Orman said he is glad to participate in the Golden Apricot Festival. The director said it is his first film and he was motivated by a desire to tell other people about the events that took place a hundred years ago. “I am going to address political problems again in my new works. I have long been engaged in opposition political activity and I am not afraid of pressure,’ he noted.

According to H. Orman, the film was expected to be demonstrated at Istanbul Festival but Turkish film directors boycotted it so ‘Homo Politicus’ will be screened for the first time at Golden Apricot Film Festival.

The normalization and development of Turkey’s relations with its ‘most distant’ neighbour Armenia is the aim of the Foundation. The Foundation’s work in this field is based on the principle that can be described as ‘The border will first be opened in our minds’. As Hrant Dink Foundation, we’ll encourage direct contact in all fields between the two countries in collaboration with the civil society of both countries, independent of the political developments.

The Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant and the Turkey-Armenia Fellowship Scheme are financed by the European Union, within the framework of the programme Support to the Armenia-Turkey Normalisation Process.

Turkey-Armenia Travel Grant, in 2017-2019, is implemented by the Hrant Dink Foundation in partnership with Gyumri Youth Initiative Centre with the support of the UK Government’s Conflict, Stability and Security Fund.